The Last Phoenix

"Daddy!  Daddy!"  The little red headed boy shouted as he ran right up to Tom and jumped into his shocked arms.

Tom caught the boy instinctively and was tightly hugged by the joyous youth.

An older version of the red headed boy approached, "Howie!  Let the man go.  He's not Daddy,  Daddy was older than him, and you know Daddy is dead."

"Nuh uh, He's Daddy, I can tell.  He even smells like Daddy.  You're Daddy right?"  The intense green eyes touched Tom's soul.

Before Tom could respond, the bigger boy was removing Howie from Tom's arms.  "I'm sorry, Mister, you really do look like our father.  Please don't be mad at my little brother.  He thinks the Marines made a big mistake and our Daddy will be coming back for us.  But he was killed in Afghanistan the same day our Mommy died in a car crash."

Now Arty was holding Howie and they were both crying.  Tom knelt down and pulled both boys into a big hug.  "Oh guys, I'm so sorry, I wish I really was your Daddy."

Linda, who was now standing behind Tom, chuckled as she said quietly, "Be Careful What You Ask For�."

"Tom, what would Leo say?" Lee asked, grinning.

"Well you know very well, he'd love 'em, too." Tom said.  Both boys had shifted and had wrapped their arms around Tom's neck.  "Where is your family now?" Tom asked the two crying boys.

Nick piped up, "They had to run away, and we just found them; and well, Linda here is looking for a placement.  We were thinking of Phoenix, but now..."

Tom pulled back and looked at the two boys, "Guys, I'm not sure yet just what is going to happen, but we need to consider a lot of things.  I think you both need to look at all the possibilities.  You will be the ones that get to choose where you want to go.  Now, I have to go visit the men's room real bad, so I'll be right back."

"Okay, Daddy." Howie said, as he released Tom's neck.

When he was finished, Tom hurried outside and there were boys running all around.  The only exceptions were Neal and Arty sitting on one bench and Howie and Brian on another.  Both sets of boys were engaged in intense conversations.  Tom walked over to where the other adults were talking by the front of the bus.

"Nick, would you mind very much, driving the van; I think Neal, Brian and I need to ride on the bus with the guys, the rest of the way home."  Tom said.

Nick and Martha exchanged a look and Nick said, "Sure, Tom, we'd be glad to.  We're only about an hour from home, anyway."

Tom handed Nick the keys and climbed onto the bus.  He had Oliver show him how to reset the seats so he could sit facing the two new boys.  When they came on, Tom asked them to sit with him.  Howie climbed up into his lap and Arty sat facing Tom.  Neal sat next to his Dad and Brian sat next to Arty.

Once everyone was accounted for, Oliver slowly pulled out, and lead the way back onto the Interstate.  Tom began the conversation, "Okay fellas, I want you guys to know that we are all going to do everything we can to protect you.  I'd like for you to tell me your story and hopefully we can learn enough to take whatever action necessary, to help you."

Howie looked up at Tom, "Are you going to take us home now, Daddy?"

Neal answered for Tom, "We sure are, Kiddo.  We just have to figure out how to keep ya."

Arty told his story again and Tom asked several questions about his parents and the foster parents where they had ended up.  By the time they turned off the interstate, Arty was done and was a total emotional wreck.  Brian gave him a hug and support.

Tom thought things over for a couple of miles, "I'm not quite sure about details, but I promise you that you guys are safe now.  You aren't going to end up in a bad place like that, ever again.  Now, all we will need to do is determine where the best placement for you is.  Right now, actually, it doesn't matter since your two choices are with my boys, or with the Phoenix boys and right at the moment, everyone is going to be living at my house."

Arty looked at all the boys on the bus, "Everybody here is staying at your house?  Jeeze, you must have a really huge house!"

Neal laughed, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.  When you see it, you will think it's huge, but what you see is only about half of the whole place."

Brian added, "Don't worry though, if you get lost, just ask for directions back, and 'Philip' will help you find your way."

"But how will he know where we are, and hear us?" Howie asked, puzzled.

"Well, 'Philip' is a computer and he has cameras, microphones and speakers  just about everywhere on the premises, so he WILL know." Brian explained.

"Even the bedrooms?" Arty asked.

Neal nodded, "Yup.  But he don't spy on you, and if you are doing, like private stuff, he doesn't even look, or anything.  So he's there to talk to, but not to tattle on us or anything.  He's really kewl."

Arty blushed at Neal's mention of private stuff.  Tom thought that Arty could give Adam a run for the money in the redness of a blush department.

The bus was just then passing through a small town.  Neal pointed out the window, "Look Dad, they have started working on the new Sheriff's Office and Jail.  I bet Uncle Eric will be surprised when he gets home."

Tom was also surprised at how far along they were in the building project.  The first story was all framed in, and the steel was all up for the second story, which was going to be the jail, and the third story was going to be used for office space for the School Board.  For some reason, (like he hoped to move some of the board members to the second floor) Tom saw the irony in the location and chuckled a little.

Oliver picked up the microphone and keyed it to speak, "Welcome to Havendale, everyone,   This is now your home town."

The boys cheered.  As they left town, Oliver keyed the mike again, "Watch out the windows on the left side of the bus.  That large building on the hill is a little place called The Phoenix House, soon to be the home of forty some boys."

You could have heard a pin drop while all the boys were staring out the windows, looking at the building that would soon be their home.  Arty said to Tom, "Wow, that place is big."

Neal giggled, "Naah, that ain't nothin'.  Just wait til you see Haven."

Oliver pulled the bus into a driveway that had a big iron gate with a Phoenix just like the one the bus had on it.  Then he backed out and returned the way he had come. 

"Why'd he do that?" Arty asked.

"He was showing the boys where they would be staying.  Haven is actually located clear on the other side of town," Tom explained.

The bus then passed back through town and out into the country again.  As they passed the school complex, one of the boys asked, "Do we get to go there for school?"

Andy answered, "No, I don't think you would want to go there.  That's not a good place.  The Middle and High Schools are not kid friendly at all.  We have started our own school, and it's MUCH better."

"So, where DO we go?" another of the boys asked.

"We're Home Schooled, so we are right at home." Brian answered, Neal and Andy giggled.

"All of us?"

"Sure, we already got half the county, going there, so a few more won't hurt." Andy said.

Tom sat back in his seat. He realized that even the kids had noticed what was happening with the school.  He smiled, wondering just how the School board was reacting.  In the fall, they were going to be in deep doo-doo, since Federal funding was based on the number of students enrolled, and that number was going to be as close to zero as he could manage.  Unjustly attacking Tom Richards' boys was not a smart thing to do.

"Look at that place!"
"It's HUGE!!"
"What is it?"

Neal grinned and stood up.  "That's HOME.  It's called Haven Manor and we all live there."

Oliver slowed, and turned the bus onto the driveway.  He stopped at the gate. As he drove up to a metal cabinet containing a speaker and microphone, A very formal British voice said, 'Good day, Deliveries in the rear.'

Neal almost climbed over Oliver to stick his head out the window, "'Philip'!!  I'll give you a delivery in the ... Open the gate.  Jeez, what are all these guys goin' to think?!"[Okay Neal lets see you get out of this fine kettle of fish]

'Very well, Master Neal.' The red light turned green and the gate majestically and quite silently opened.

The bus moved on up the drive.  Tom sat there trying to not laugh at Neal.  The 'Ooohs and Ahs' from the new guys as they approached the front of the manor were quite numerous.

As the bus pulled to a stop, the kids of Haven poured out of the front door.  Oliver opened the bus door and Tom stepped off, getting hugs from everyone.  Dr. Turnman was the last to arrive and he gave Tom the biggest hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.  Oliver followed Tom off the bus and opened the luggage compartment.  Andy organized the Phoenix boys and had all the squads line up as they retrieved their luggage.  Once the bus was empty, Andy assigned each Squad one of the kids who had remained behind. 

Since Squad 1 had little kids, Andy let Moe, David and Tym show them to their rooms. 

"Hi, I'm E.J..  This is my brother Jacob and his room-mate Mikey, they're four.  Then there's Alan and Tony, they're six and then Ryan and Kyle, they're seven and eight."

"I'm Moe," he said, and shook hands with each boy.  "I'm ten.  These two are David and Tym, they're both eight.  Come on, I'll show you where you will be staying."

Moe picked up Mikey's suitcase and led the way.  David helped Jacob carry his stuff, and Tym helped Alan and Tony.  Needless to say, the boys were very impressed with the foyer and then even more so as they were led through the halls to the central wing.  Moe paused outside the banquet room.  "In here is where we will be eating.  There is a really big kitchen and we sometimes have feasts and have about three hundred people. That usually happens on holidays and stuff."

Of course the new boys were properly impressed.  Moe then added, "Just be real careful you don't do nothin' to get the Ballroom floor dirty.  'Philip' goes off when that happens."

"Who's 'Philip'?" Jacob asked.

"Oh, he's our computer friend." Moe said.

A huffy voice steeped in British snobbery came from one of the new black boxes that had just been installed, 'I'll have you know, I am naught just a computah.  I am a Watkins Enterprises� Artificial Intelligence unit, originally based on the 'James Technology',' then without missing a beat, switching to his normal voice and sounding much more human, 'With the complete personality engrams extracted from Philip Richards, and of course now, with recent self-designed enhancements added.'

"Huh?" the new guys said.

"Don't worry about 'Philip', he talks funny sometimes, but he really is our friend.  He's always there if you need to talk to somebody about like private stuff." David said.

They arrived at the elevator and got loaded on.  Moe punched the three button, and the elevator slowly began it's trip up to the third floor.  It didn't sound any better than it had the last two days.

When it finally arrived, and the doors opened, the relieved boys hurriedly exited.  Moe led them to the left.  There, on the right were doors with computer printed signs on them, reading SQUAD 1, then below that, the letters A through F.

"Okay, we set these up so the leader is in A, it's a single room and shares  the bathroom with B.  C and D share a bathroom, and so do E and F.  E is the study and computer room, and F is the meeting and game room which has a TV and Video Game unit.  So E.J. you get 1A. Who gets 1B?"

E.J. Said, "Jacob and Mikey should be in B." 

The boys then deposited their stuff in their rooms and began exploring all the other rooms.

* Back at the bus *

Jason said, "Okay Andy, So, who is gonna be my guide?"

"Hey Pat!  How about showing Jason and his Squad to their rooms." Andy said, somehow keeping his face straight.[Hmm not another PAT answer]

Jason then felt a hand on his shoulder and in a soft whisper, someone said, "Come on sweetie, just follow me."

"Don't call me swee ..." Jason spun around quickly, and faced the person.  "Boobs!  Shit, ah, ah, I mean, ah, ... Crap."

Patty broke out laughing this time.  She flashed back {pun intended} to Neal, discovering she was a girl.  It was hard to believe that was just a little more than six months ago.  So much had changed in such a very short time.

Jason turned red, but amazingly, kept his mouth shut, for a change. And finally, as his red face regained its normal colour, he joined in the laughter. 

Aaron Came up to Patty, "Hi, I'm Aaron.  You'll get used to Jason after awhile.  He usually runs his mouth faster than he thinks and sometimes it gets him in trouble."

Patty grinned at Aaron, "Well, with all of us here, he'll learn to either slow down the mouth, or speed up the thinking."

Glenn added. "Poor Jason, his mouth works at the speed of light and his brain at the speed of sound."

Jason grabbed Glenn and gave him a nuggie. 

Patty started walking and muttered, "Boys, jeez."  Squad 2's rooms were right across the hall from Squad 1.  Soon they were getting settled and the other Squads followed.  They were told that lunch was going to be ready in about an hour and the Haven bunch went to catch up with their brothers.

*   Back to yesterday when they left for Haven from the Hotel  *

Leo, Jim and Eric said good bye and watched the bus and van leave the hotel.  Jim sighed, then said, "Well, what do we all have to do now?"

Eric grimaced, "I have the pleasure of dealing with the State Authorities about the situation at that awful place.  We need to file some additional charges and it's going to get awfully nasty if the DA doesn't want to prosecute."

Jim patted him on the back,  "I have been directed to file civil charges against the former staff there, to recover as much as possible from the stolen estates of the boys.  Tom thought we'd best get the charges on the record before they disappear.  We can go together."

Leo sighed, "I have an appointment at the hospital to discuss a couple of patients.  I have the two staff members that specialize in their treatments meeting to develop my treatment program for the boys.  Could you two drop me off at Children's Hospital on your way?"

"Sure," Eric said.

Leo stopped by to see how the twins were doing with Lou.

"Uncle Leo, he knows us!  Watch this." Mitch bubbled.

Mitch pointed at himself and Lou said, "Mih."

Then Mitch pointed at his twin and Lou said, "Twa."

Then Lou pointed at Leo.  Mitch said, "Uncle Leo."

Lou worked on that then said, "Unk"

Leo reached down and picked the little guy up and gave him a big hug.  "Close enough, little guy, close enough."

Leo held Lou close for several minutes then sat him down in the wheelchair.  "Do you two think you can take Lou for a ride?"

"Sure!" Mitch and Travis said together. "I bet he's gonna love that."

Leo handed them some cash, "The cafeteria is on the ground floor.  So is the gift shop if you want to get something there.  I have a meeting to go to, but I'll join you guys for dinner."

"Okay!" the twins nearly shouted as they pushed their new brother out of the room.  Leo smiled as he heard Lou's squeals of delight at his ride.

Leo soon found the conference room where the meeting was to take place.  There was a doctor already there.  He stood up as Leo entered.  "I'm Jeremy Elyphs, (pronounced ellipse) you must be Dr. Turnman."

"Call me Leo, please, Dr. Turnman is my grandfather."  Leo shook hands and poured himself a cup of coffee, from the carafe on the table.  He almost choked as he took a sip, "Jeez, I'll never understand why we can transplant organs, but not make a decent cup of coffee."

"Some things never change." Jeremy said.

"I think it would help a little, if they just changed the coffee grounds once or twice a year," Leo said, and they both laughed. 

"Sorry I'm a little late.  I got called into the ER to examine a shooting victim that had Kaposi's Sarcoma.  You would think that doctors by this time wouldn't totally freak out at the thought of touching someone with HIV.  Christ, we treat everyone we operate on as if they have the damn virus anyway, so why do the idiots panic if you know for sure that you ARE treating someone that has it?  Well, anyway, I'm Herman Starling."  Herman lamented as he took a sip of his coffee and grimaced.

Leo sat back in his chair, "Well, I guess we can get the meeting started.  I'm involved with a group home for boys, and we know we have one eleven year old who is definitely infected, in fact, he was born with HIV, and there's a fifteen year old who suspects he may be infected too, because he was forced to do some very risky behavior.  The eleven year old had been on HAART, but it was discontinued, most probably to keep from having to pay for the meds..."

Jeremy interrupted, "DISCONTINED!?! What the?!?!... That's insane.  Who in their right minds would do that?  How long?"

"Easy, Jerry.  Let Leo finish his story." Herman said, putting his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"Almost nine months, I think.  Anyway, he's feeling very weak and he does have Kaposi's on his torso.  I know the basics about HIV that we learn in Med School, but HAART was just in its infancy as a treatment when I was there.  I need to know what I'm doing and what I will have to deal with.  We are several hours away from a decent size medical center.  Our local hospital is great for trauma, but for something like this, I'm afraid it's just way out of their league."

Herman stated, "HIV is NOT curable, and you STILL die of it. Yes, drugs slow down the progress of the disease, but they do not stop it.  They are like parachutes: having one never stops you from falling."

Jeremy sighed, "Yes, Herman, that is true, but the HAART program is giving us really great results for some of our patients.  There are patients out there that have been leading perfectly normal lives for fifteen years or more and are still doing great.  We don't really know how long we can keep going.  I do expect an HIV patient's life span to be shortened, but now, instead of only having a matter of months, it's easily become years and in many cases decades."

Herman came back with, "Currently, the drugs push the HIV into hiding in sheltered body parts: the brain, and lymph nodes to name a few. It also explains why the drugs are given ASAP after a known risk situation, in an effort to stop the virus from going into hiding, but the virus is constantly fighting back, and the damn drugs lose their efficiency... you NEVER know when a set of drugs you are prescribing will simply stop being effective because the virus finally found a way to circumvent how it works."

Jeremy continued, "That is why we require frequent testing to determine if the current drugs are still working, and if not we have to change them, That's why it is called Highly Active; we simply don't trust a drug to work for years.  We are also using a combination of drugs, not just one, so a mutation is less likely to be completely successful."

Leo asked, "What kind of prognosis does the eleven year old have?"

"Not good."
"Great."

Leo laughed, "You two should take this act on the road.  Which is it?"

Herman began, "He has moved from just being HIV positive into AIDS itself.  Of course, this is never a good sign.  His viral load is very high right now, and there is significant immune system shutdown."

Jeremy countered, "But if the HAART can suppress the virus, we could get a reversal and near full recovery to where he was before they stopped the treatments."

"But we might not."

"But we might."

Leo held up his hand, "Okay, I get the point.  Now, how is the best way to handle all this, medically?"

When Leo left the room an hour later, he had certainly learned a great deal.  His patients would be quite a challenge.  He was going to have to ask Tom for money to add to the lab at their hospital, so the tests could be done locally, since all the Juvy boys needed to be tested regularly and his boys too.  As a matter of fact, so do Mitch and Travis.  HIV is a very scary retrovirus, it can take quite a long time to show up in the blood tests and then it mutates so fast that effective treatment is very elusive.  His note pad was filled with ideas and websites and both docs' addresses, cellphone numbers and e-mail addresses.

As he exited the elevator, he was almost run over by a wheelchair race going down the hall.  Two nurses and an orderly were pushing Mitch, Travis and Lou down the hall, then around a chair and back toward him.  There were pediatric patients looking out their doors, cheering on the racers.  The orderly and Lou were in the lead.  Lou was squealing with delight at feeling the breeze as he was pushed faster and faster down the hall.

Lou won the race easily, and was given huge hugs and kisses by the winded nurses, and then of course, by Mitch and Travis.  The nurse who had been pushing Travis finally said, "Okay that's enough, we'd better behave before a Doctor catches us."

Mitch looked up and saw Leo standing there and said to the nurse, "Oops, too late."

Leo moved forward and before the nurse could react, he reached out, hugged her and whispered in her ear, "That was a wonderful thing that you all just did.  Other than almost running me over, I think it had a very positive beneficial effect for all the patients."

When Leo released her, she was stunned but she had a huge grin on her face.

"Nurse, I'm going to check my patient and his brothers out, now, and take them to a restaurant, for dinner.  We'll be gone about an hour." Leo said.

"Yes, Doctor."

It was a real thrill seeing Lou eat his first hamburger and fries.  When they returned, Leo brought two huge bags back and set them in front of the nurse he had hugged earlier.  "I'll bet you could find some hungry kids who would enjoy these."

She smiled, "Yes, Doctor."  She came around and hugged him.  "I wish more Doctors were like you."

He winked at her and went to say goodnight to the boys.

"Tomorrow is a big day.  I will be here early to pick you guys up and we will go to the heliport on the roof.  We will get everyone settled, fly over and pick up the Gregorys.  Then we get to fly home.  My bet is, we will beat the others but it might be pretty close.  So you three get a good night's sleep."

He kissed all three boys and left for the night.  He left directions at the Nurse's Station for an early check-out.

He left Children's Hospital and took a cab to the other hospital to see how the Gregorys were doing.

"Now John, remember we are dealing with young boys, they are not Police Academy Cadets."

"Becky, dear, I know that, but they need rules and discipline."

Leo decided to enter before the discussion got too heated.  "Hi.  How are you both doing tonight?"

"Hi Leo, my wife seems to think I'm being overly strict in my rules for the boys." John said as he handed Leo a sheet of paper.

Leo read the list of twenty three rules.  "Well, John, I think you are both right."  That got puzzled looks from both of them.  "These are a great set of rules.  How are Danny and Donny going to like having you impose these on them?"

"Well, of course, those aren't for them." John started to explain.

Leo put on a shocked expression, "You're leaving those two with Tom and me?"

"No, of course not."

"Well then, if they are living at The Phoenix House, they have to follow these rules too, just like everyone else  ...,  right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so.  But the others need rules."

"John..."

"Look, I've been around these guys the last few days and they aren't juvenile delinquents, most of them are just very scared little boys who have been very badly treated.  We didn't have any trouble, well except for Jason's mouth, and so far, we haven't had to spell out any rules.  The Squad leaders take care of things really well."

"No rules? ... At all?" Becky asked.

"Yeah, amazing, huh?  If I were you guys, I'd talk to the Squad leaders and let them know what you expect and see how well that works.  I've been watching our boys and the Scouts, and as amazing as it seems, the boys can handle things pretty darn well, if you let them.  And with forty one added to your two, you'll need all the help you can get."  Leo let that settle for a couple of minutes.

"Now, I had two things to talk to you both about.  First, we will be moving you to the Heliport on the roof at around eight o'clock in the morning.  John, I'm asking that you be sedated, so the necessary jolts and movements won't hurt you, and Becky, I can do the same for you if you wish."

"No, Doc, I'd hate that.  I think a pain pill will do me just fine; I don't want to be knocked out."  Becky said.

"Okay Becky, I can live with that.  We will be transporting you on a gurney, so we can be sure your hip isn't overly stressed.  Don't whine or I'll sedate you."  Leo grinned.

Becky looked daggers at him but it had no effect.  "You can be tough when you want to."

"When it comes to my patients, and their well being, I am unmovable;  even the boys' best puppy-dog-eyes don't phase me in the least."

"What's the other thing, Leo?" John asked.

"Well, I mentioned to you before that we had a sure case of AIDS and a probable HIV positive.  Now I'm learning a lot more about all this and from what I have been told, we may well have a much bigger problem.  The boys who are over age ten have all been raped and since one of the rape victims has AIDS, that means that all of them have been potentially exposed.  HIV is very sneaky.  It takes some time for it to show up in the tests and when the body fights back, it may also be undetectable for a while, that is why multiple tests are done.  Even when the virus is undetectable, however, it can be transmitted to others.  And it isn't just anal intercourse that transmits it."

John looked surprised at that comment.

"That's right, all the boys need to know that any activity where bodily fluids can be exchanged, can transmit the virus.  Some contacts are safer than others.  Kissing, if there are no open sores or gingivitis, (bleeding gums) is fairly safe, Oral sex is much less safe, since the viral content of ejaculate (cum) is much higher than saliva (spit)." Leo explained.

Becky was looking quite uncomfortable, "I thought, well, ah well, I'm not sure how to ask this, but isn't the one at risk the one who, ah, receives..."

"Well, sadly, that is a very common misconception.  The penis isn't some magic shield, although, the fact that it is the instrument that transmits the ejaculate makes it more likely to pass the disease, if there is a scrape of the teeth that exposes some raw skin, it can be enough to open the door for the virus, penetration can cause tiny tears in the skin of the penis that allows the virus access.  Even sex with virgins isn't entirely safe, because, sadly, more and more babies are being born with the infection.  It's also not true that you can't get infected the first time; just like getting pregnant.  Condoms help a great deal of course, if they are used properly, but the fact remains that the only way to keep yourself completely safe is abstinence.  I think we will have to be very honest with the boys and explain things to them quite plainly." Leo concluded.

John looked very thoughtful, "Doc, you know that boys this age are going to experiment with each other, I mean it's normal behavior, and how in the world can we stop that?"

"Leo considered for a moment, "Honestly, I don't think we can stop them and I'm not sure we should even try.  I think that the boys at risk need to be educated and of course, there needs to be a source of condoms available that they can get to with no embarrassment or adult intervention.  At least we can make being safer easier."

Becky interjects, "Doesn't providing condoms send the message to the boys that having sex with each other is okay with us."

John replied, "No dear, We know, at least I know, that they are going to experiment whether they have a condom or knot. {ouch, braggart} If they are going to try it once or twice they need to do it safely."

Leo said, "Some of these guys have been sexually active for several years and it would be a disaster to forbid it.  Then it become the big secret and they will try to hide problems instead of coming for help."

"I guess I'm just worried about the reaction from the parents..." Becky began until Leo's snicker cut her off.

"Becky?  Hello?  YOU are the parents," Leo got out and they all laughed.

"I never imagined having this kind of talk with all these strange boys, it was bad enough that I was going to have to talk to Danny and Donny." John said.

Leo smiled, "I know It's not gonna be easy, and I will admit I have been pretty lax about talking about it with my boys.  As a matter of fact, we have only had the conversation with one pair, so far.  After the things I learned today, and now that I have had a chance to think about it, I think it's long overdue."

Becky asked, "Leo, could you please help us with not only this but also with the boys?  I know John and I are not in a trustworthy position with them yet and I realize discussion of this topic, needs trust and credibility.  We will build that in time, but this situation needs to be discussed and we simply can't wait. They need to know the score so they can be prepared."

"Damn, I was hoping to get out of this.  Oh, well.  Yes, I certainly will help.  I'll see if we can do this before they move away from Haven."  Leo shook hands with John and gave Becky a hug.  Then he was off to the hotel to pack and get a good nights sleep.

Early the next morning, Leo checked out, took a taxi to the airport and met the helicopter.  He had wondered about the early hour that he had been quoted, but he found that Homeland Security had to literally interrogate him on the use of the helicopter.  They didn't like the idea of picking up passengers that would not be screened.

Leo offered to take an officer with them, or to return to the airport for a screening before leaving for Haven.  This, of course, didn't satisfy them at all.  "Might I then have the Medi-Lift Helicopter bring the patients here, at government expense, of course.  Let's just call Washington and get the proper authorization,  I believe Bill Williams is the man we need to talk to.  He will be at home since DC is only an hour ahead of us.  His home number is (202) 555-9823."

"You know the Deputy Secretary's home number?"

"Sure, his son was my roommate in college.  Want me to call him on my cell?"  Leo took out his phone.

The bureaucrat suddenly decided that he no longer was in the position of power.  He approved the flight plan and they were cleared.  He left quite quickly and the pilot waited until the door was closed, "Damn, that was beautiful!  Do you really know that guy?"

"Heck no.  I remembered his name from the news and that was a number of a pay phone at a Pizza place I used to hang out at."

The pilot laughed at that, and the flight to pick up the passengers soon began.

Author's Notes:
Very special thanks to two readers who have volunteered to help keep me informed and as up to date on the AIDS and HIV issues as possible.  I myself am Not HIV positive, so I have no firsthand knowledge.  The Internet is usually a wonderful source of information, but you have to be very careful because information even a couple of years old can be so inaccurate as to be flat out wrong.  On the surface, my experts seem to be in complete disagreement, but after I have studied what they are saying, I find that they really do agree on most of the issues; they just have different perspectives and expectations.  My goal is to try to educate us all on this very important topic.  I hope you have learned something from reading this; I sure have.  Thanks again to Mr. R. Round and Dr. C. Martin.
'Be Careful What You Ask For�', is the title of a story by D & B, located on AC's Corner Cafe  
Watkins Enterprises� is from the story 'Love At First Bite' by Crackerwriter and is used with permission.  It would also explain why 'Philip' loves to put on his 'British' accent.
Well, it looks as if Tom and Leo both have their hands full of trouble.  I still wonder why Howie keeps calling Tom Daddy.  He sure seems sure, doesn't he?  The next logical chapter to read, now that you have finished reading this one, will be Chapter 22 of Haven2.  I hope you are enjoying all the twists and turns.  Buckle your  seatbelts, we are going to have some turbulence.  {Nope, I'll stick with the onion.}
As always let me know you thoughts about the stories.
          Str8mayb

Editor's Notes:  I want to thank Str8mayb for this wonderful story. The very serious issues that have been presented here and in the previous few chapters, are extremely important and really do need to be discussed.  I have read a lot of stories on the net and elsewhere, and I find that most fiction seems to ignore completely the issue of safety when it comes to sex.  Disclaimers aside, the usual depiction in these stories is that you really don't need to worry about using protection, in the apparent belief that people would rather read about unprotected sex between lovers, or even casual partners than they would about seeing someone use a condom.  I believe that situations like that actually pose a danger, namely raising the bar, so to speak and making people forget the real danger that exists in real life sexual situations.  By bringing all this to the forefront, Str8mayb has given us a beautiful opportunity to think about what many of us simply never thought about. After reading this story, perhaps we will take the time to think and discuss the issue.  I certainly hope so.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Fort Chief Editor's Notes:

Str8mayb has done it again this is a wonderful and thought provoking chapter which covers several serious Societal Issues in his usual understated way. John trying to put rules on his new boys but not his own kids was delightful. I even learned a few new things about the NON GAY Diseases AIDS and HIV. We are the only country that I know of of where the Government treats a HUMAN Disease as a HOMOSEXUAL Disease! It amazes that with the number of Heterosexual AIDS and HIV Cases far outnumber the Homosexual cases our nation still treats it as a "Gay Plague" with some Government Officials still suggesting Quarantining Homosexuals just a few years ago! I had more to say but The Radio Rancher beat me to it.

Where is the next chapter?

Fort Chief Editor AKA The Story Lover